Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, reacting on Fox News this morning to Wednesday’s House hearing on September’s Benghazi terrorist attack, faulted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for not speaking out against the Obama administration’s initial suggestion that the deadly attack was prompted by demonstrations over a crudely produced anti-Islamic YouTube video.

Rubio said the administration pushed the YouTube story because President Barack Obama “was in the middle of his re-election and one of his talking points was that terrorism has been defeated and he had defeated it, and this ran counter of that narrative.”

Initial Benghazi scapegoat Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.

Later, Rubio added: “What I think is sad is how many people are around the administration — including the former Secretary of State, Secretary Clinton — knew this to be the case, and allowed this to move forward anyway. You would’ve hoped that people would have stepped up and said this was wrong and the American people deserve the truth. That didn’t happen.”

Rubio and Clinton both figure prominently in the 2016 presidential chatter of their respective parties. They faced off over Benghazi during a January Senate hearing, but their exchange didn’t produce fireworks.